TSMC quarrels over union formation! Can 65,000 employees learn from Samsung’s strike to “ask for bonuses” and seek a payout?

TSMC employees leak on Facebook group "TSMC Big and Small Matters" that their bonuses were cut by 15%, with frontline workers threatening to "follow Samsung's example and go on strike."
Three days later, Chairman Wei Zhejia personally held a briefing, announcing this year's bonus would increase by over 30%, and the event was resolved.
But the world's most profitable semiconductor company, with over 60k Taiwanese employees, has no union.
(Background summary: I got the "The better TSMC gets, the worse I feel" disease: the psychological torment of engineers before leaving)

Table of Contents

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• "Good companies don't need unions"
• Samsung has demonstrated it
• Taiwanese law says it's allowed, but in reality, probably not
• What about next time

Summary of key points

• TSMC's Q1 profit increased by 58% year-over-year to a record high, yet rumors of a 15% bonus cut spread, employees threatened to strike like Samsung, and three days later, Wei Zhejia announced a 30% bonus increase at a briefing, ending the incident
• Samsung's union went from its first strike in 2024 to over 90k members by 2026 (covering 70% of Korean employees), planning an 18-day general strike, with a single-day strike reducing fab output by 18%
• Taiwan's labor union law protects the right to organize unions, but TSMC has no corporate union to date; scholars suggest adopting a cross-company "semiconductor engineer trade union" model similar to airline pilot or flight attendant unions

On the evening of May 24, the "TSMC Big and Small Matters" Facebook group exploded.

Someone posted a screenshot claiming TSMC was going to cut bonuses by 15%.
Most of the hundreds of comments below were angry, a few sarcastic, but one comment was particularly striking.

"Samsung can strike now."

Three days later, Chairman Wei Zhejia canceled his business trip and held an in-person briefing at the Hsinchu headquarters at 10 a.m. on May 27.
He said this year's bonus would increase by more than 30%, promising overall employee compensation would be higher than last year, and opened a query system for everyone to check the numbers themselves.
On the same afternoon, the query system went live; after viewing the figures, employees closed their computers and continued working overtime.

The bonus dissatisfaction incident was resolved.

But the problem was not over.
TSMC's profit in the first quarter of 2026 surged 58% year-over-year to a historic high, ranking among the top in global market value.
Over 60k Taiwanese employees' "protest weapon" in this storm was a comment in an anonymous Facebook group.
Not through union negotiations, collective bargaining, or strike votes.

"Good companies don't need unions"

In a 2016 interview with CommonWealth Magazine, Morris Chang said a frequently quoted phrase: "Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Intel, Texas Instruments have no unions. I believe this is a key reason for their success."
He believed labor-management conflict was bad for companies; good companies take good care of employees, and when employees and companies are united, unions are unnecessary.

This is not empty talk. In the 1970s, Morris Chang, then overseeing global semiconductor business at Texas Instruments, attempted to organize a vote at the Houston plant for a national union.
The result was "very few workers supported it, far below half."
He had never encountered a successful union action in his lifetime, and this experience became the foundation of his belief.

In December 2022, during the TSMC Arizona plant relocation ceremony, Biden said on stage, "Unions are back."
Morris Chang later said he found that statement "a bit offensive."

Four years later, Google has a union (Alphabet Workers Union, established in 2021), Apple retail stores have unions (the first in Maryland in 2022), and even Amazon warehouses have unions (JFK8 warehouse voting).

Morris Chang's 2016 list of "successful companies without unions" is gradually disappearing one by one.

But TSMC remains on the list.

Samsung has demonstrated it

In Seoul, a completely different story is unfolding.

On June 7, 2024, Samsung Electronics employees initiated the company's first-ever strike, lasting only one day, as a tentative move.
On July 8 of the same year, they struck again, this time continuing until August 1.

By May 2026, the Samsung Semiconductor Union (NSEU) had grown to over 90k members, covering more than 70% of Korean employees.
Two years earlier, there were only 32k.
Almost tripled.

This union's demands are specific: cancel the bonus cap (currently limited to 50% of base salary), and distribute 15% of annual operating profit to employees.

Samsung accounts for about one-third of the world's DRAM, and together with SK Hynix, controls two-thirds of the global market, plus indispensable high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI era.
In other words, these workers hold not just bargaining chips but a critical vulnerability in the global AI supply chain.

Taiwanese law says it's allowed, but in reality, probably not

Can TSMC employees form a union? Legally, yes.

Taiwan's Union Law Article 35 explicitly guarantees workers' right to organize unions, and TSMC is not subject to the defense industry exemption in Article 4.

A lawyer on Dcard analyzed clearly: "Writing in employment contracts that employees cannot form unions is itself illegal."

Law is one thing; reality is another.

On PTT Tech_Job, discussions about "Can tech companies form unions?" appear every few months.
The consensus in these posts is almost identical: the initiator is usually the first targeted by management.

In a performance-based system that determines bonus amounts, the causal link between "leading a union" and "performance evaluation being lowered" is obvious—everyone understands.

Someone on Threads wrote a post that triggered widespread sharing:
"Suddenly realizing, TSMC, which so many employees complain about, has no union! This is truly terrifying upon reflection."

Professor Cheng Zhi-Yue of NCCU's Labor Department proposed an alternative: instead of forming a company union (which makes leaders easy targets), create a cross-company "semiconductor engineer trade union," similar to pilot or flight attendant unions in the airline industry.

Next time?

But this suggestion has not been promoted by anyone after media reports.

Ironically, TSMC in Taiwan faces no union issues, but in the U.S., it is immediately taught a lesson by unions.

In 2023, TSMC's Arizona Fab 21 was behind schedule, and company executives publicly said it was because "American workers lack skills," requiring support from Taiwan staff.
Local unions in Arizona immediately counterattacked, calling this statement "offensive and incorrect."

The conflict was not only technical.
Multiple reports pointed out that Taiwanese managers habitually shouted at workers in public, leading to complaints from American employees.
TSMC had to arrange cultural adaptation training to prevent managers from yelling publicly.
Some American engineers expected to work on production lines but were assigned to clean up construction debris, and some quit during training.

Eventually, TSMC reached an agreement with local unions: only dispatched foreign workers with "professional experience" when necessary, relying mainly on local labor.
Fab 21 now has over 3,000 employees, with mass production starting at the end of 2024.

In Taiwan, TSMC's culture is just that—culture.
In the U.S., when culture meets system, concessions are made.
The difference is whether there is a union.

After the briefing on May 27, TSMC's stock price was unaffected.
Wei Zhejia admitted that this year, the profit distribution mechanism was indeed adjusted, shifting some focus toward shareholder returns, social investment, ESG, etc., but emphasized that "overall employee compensation will still be higher than last year."

The crisis was resolved, and this time, it was lifted.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can TSMC employees legally form a union?

Yes. Taiwan's Union Law Article 35 guarantees workers' right to organize unions, and TSMC is not subject to the defense industry exemption in Article 4.
However, in practice, those leading union efforts are often targeted in performance evaluations; scholars suggest adopting a cross-company "semiconductor engineer trade union" model instead.

How significant is Samsung's union strike impact on the semiconductor industry?

Samsung's single-day strike in May 2026 caused memory fab output to drop by 18% per shift and foundry line output by 58%.
Samsung accounts for about one-third of global DRAM; a potential 18-day full strike could result in losses estimated between 30 trillion and 100 trillion Korean won.